Former LaGuardia Community College librarian killed by tractor-trailer in Brooklyn 

Ngozi Agbim, 73, was hit by the truck as it turned onto Prospect Expressway in Kensington; she fell underneath the rear wheels

BY DENIS SLATTERY , ROCCO PARASCANDOLA AND BARRY PADDOCK / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS

The scene of an accident in Kensington where Ngozi Agbim, 73, a retired librarian at LaGuardia Communtiy College, was struck by a tractor-trailer and killed. Agbim was walking east on Church Ave. and crossing Prospect Expressway. The big rig was headed in the opposite direction on Church Ave. and hit Agbim as it made a right turn onto the Prospect, police said.

The former head librarian at LaGuardia Community College in Queens died while walking home from church Monday when she was struck by a tractor-trailer.

Ngozi Agbim, 73, was walking east on Church Ave. in Kensington about 9:40 a.m. and crossing the treacherous nine-lane intersection at Prospect Expressway when she was hit by the truck as it turned right onto Prospect, police and witnesses said.

Agbim pounded on the truck to get the driver’s attention, but fell underneath it and was run over by its rear wheels, witnesses said. She died at the scene, police said.

Trucker Eric Turnbach, 49, of Sugarloaf, Penn., who remained on the scene, was ticketed for failure to exercise due care, police said.

Agbim was returning home from running errands after attending mass with her husband of 41 years, her neighbors said.

Agbim worked at LaGuardia Community College for 33 years, retiring in 2005 as head librarian, a relative and a former colleague said.

“She did make a lot of changes,” said Yeofanah Jean Mary, a library office assistant who worked under Agbim.

Agbim pounded on the side of the truck after it clipped her, in a bid to get the driver’s attention, but fell under the rear wheels and was run over. Police ticketed the driver for failure to exercise due care.

“She asked for more stuff for the students. Now we have a computer lab, more computers in the library, more books.”

Agbim remained active after retirement, raising money for non-profit development projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

“She was a lovely, lovely woman,” said family friend Marie Oates. “She did so much charity work.”

Her husband, Silas, had returned home from church before her and didn’t witness the tragic accident. The couple, who had three children, attended mass each week, friends said.

“It’s a shock to the neighborhood,” said Agbim’s next-door neighbor Val Thomas. “That’s just very sad.”